John Pelham

John Pelham (7 September 1838-17 March 1863) was a Major of the Confederate States Army under J.E.B. Stuart, serving in the American Civil War. Pelham revolutionized the use of light artillery as a mobile arm of the cavalry, and his death at the Battle of Kelly's Ford in 1863 as a blow to the Confederacy.

Biography
John Pelham was born in Alexandria, Alabama on 7 September 1838 to a wealthy family, and he attended West Point from 1857 to 1861. He resigned just a few weeks before graduation to join the Alabama state militia when the American Civil War broke out, siding with the Confederate States of America. As an artillery lieutenant in Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Northern Virginia, Pelham revolutionized the use of horse artillery, with J.E.B. Stuart providing him with horses to accomplish his task of creating a mobile field artillery force. He commanded Stuart's artillery at Antietam and Fredericksburg, distinguishing himself in the two battles, and Stuart considered Pelham to be like a younger brother to him. In March 1863, he participated in a cavalry charge against the Union at Kelly's Ford, a battle in which the artillery was not engaged, and he was struck in the head by an artillery shell fragment. Pelham died the following morning without regaining consciousness.